By: Lamar Greene

With all the coughing and sneezing going around it may seem like everyone is ill. In fact, more Americans are seeking medical care for the flu than at any time since the 2009 “swine” flu pandemic. Every state except Hawaii are reporting widespread flu activity. The statistics are staggering. Thirty-seven children have died and almost 12,000 people have been admitted to the hospital. The CDC has said that the flu outbreak could surpass that of 2014-15 when more than 34 million Americans fell ill.​Currently, concern for the flu has grown so much that we are beginning to see organizations such as “Flu Near You” that is use social media and smart phone use to produce new information to help researchers track the outbreak. The website and social media platforms allow people to post their flu-like symptoms and location so that researchers can see the geographical areas in which the disease may spread next. What exactly are flu symptoms and how are they different from those of the common cold? People who have the flu often experience a mix of symptoms that can include fever, chills, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headaches, and fatigue.

Photo of tissues and tea by Kelly Sikkema. Retrieved by Unsplash.

Dr. Rachael Lee, an assistant professor in the University of Alabama-Birmingham's Division of Infectious Diseases, spoke with CNN about the differences between the flu and the common cold because it is quite common for people to confuse the two during the winter months. Dr. Lee explained that colds are typically around your nose and face in addition to the person having a sore throat. Symptoms for the common cold are more gradual in onset and may include a low-grade fever or a cough. On the contrary, the flu has immediate symptoms that are more aggressive. Instead of a low-grade fever, someone experiencing the flu will have a high fever. In addition to a cough, a person who has the flu may also experience shortness of breath. ​Interestingly, this year’s flu outbreak marks the one hundredth anniversary of the Spanish pandemic of 1918. The Spanish Flu pandemic was the deadliest flu outbreak in human history. It is estimated that 500 million people worldwide were infected with the flu, which was one-third of the global population at the time. The flu killed an estimated 20 to 50 million people across the globe, roughly 675,000 of the deaths were Americans. The death toll of the current ongoing flu outbreak is the highest we have seen in a long time, which brings up the question of whether we have learned from our mistakes. Is the fact this this rough flu season is the one hundredth anniversary of the Spanish flu pure coincidence?

Red Cross volunteers fighting against the Spanish Flu Epidemic in United States in 1918. Retrieved from Getty Images.

Laura Spinney, a published author and researcher of the Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1918, wrestled with this question in an interview with Time Magazine. She commented on how America is often taken by surprise by the flu because we continuously underestimate the flu as a disease. She noted that while the flu is particularly bad this year it is still seasonal flu and not pandemic flu. Spinney notes that a lesson we can learn from the Spanish flu of 1918 is the way we see our communal responsibilities when it comes to disease prevention and treatment. We need to see disease as something that happens to the community as well as to specific people. This idea in understanding infectious disease as a community problem as well as an individual one brings me to question what is the government doing to combat the current flu outbreak? What steps can individuals take to reduce risk for contracting the flu?​This year’s seasonal flu is heavy on H3N2, which includes a variety of influenza. H3N2 is known among public health officials as the problem child of seasonal flu because it causes more deaths than any other influenza A virus. The flu outbreak has been exacerbated for the United States because many hospitals are having shortages of materials needed to treat flu victims. Specifically, there is a shortage of saline IV bags to treat the large amount of people who are being hospitalized. The shortage stems from the fact that the flu follows the incredible damage Hurricane Maria has done to Puerto Rico, where nearly half of America’s saline IV bags are needed. The island has not even been able to help connect all the people affected by the hurricane to basic needs let alone repair infrastructure to manufacture medical supplies.

A photo of the coast of Maunabo, Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria by Carrie Cochran. Retrieved from USA TODAY Network.

The government has long promoted the flu vaccine as a preventative measure for avoiding the flu, but drug companies are struggling to produce an effective vaccine against the H3N2 strain. The current vaccine in the market is only effective for roughly a third of the reported cases this year, but some are saying that the vaccine could prevent death. Because vaccination is a choice, we see more and more people choosing to not get vaccinated for a plethora of reasons. According to an NPR health poll, 48% of the respondents who said they were not planning to get a flu vaccine stated the reason as feeling they did not need to. We tend to think that the seasonal flu is not a concern for us anymore. However, the flu outbreak this year has been a wake up call demanding that we do more for prevention efforts. To everyone reading, it is imperative that you take the necessary steps to prevent yourself from catching the flu. The CDC recommends that we avoid close contact with people who are sick, cover our mouths and noses when coughing and sneezing, and constantly wash our hands among other good health habits. We hope that everyone stays well.

A photo of a person washing their hands. Retrieved from Royalty Free Stock Images.